


To Shelter Happiness

by orphan_account



Series: Tumblr Fic Requests [1]
Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Animal Shelter, M/M, Post-War Canon, Request Response, Volunteer Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-29
Updated: 2015-07-29
Packaged: 2018-04-11 21:13:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4452587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All Duo wants is to see Trowa be happy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Shelter Happiness

**Author's Note:**

> Drabble requested by **[Yesacia](http://yesacia.tumblr.com)**. _Hello! If you’re still taking requests is there any way you could maybe do a 2x3 animal shelter volunteer type fluff? Like Trowa does these things regularly and Duo decided just now to give it a shot because Trowa does it? Please?_

“I want to go, too.”

Trowa didn’t respond, lacing his boots and ignoring Duo, who stood dressed and ready to go in front of the door. His arms were crossed over his chest, face set in a stubborn scowl. Trowa’s lack of answer irritated the shorter man, and he repeated his demand with fervour.

“Trowa!”

“I’m not stopping you.”

Duo didn’t appear pleased with Trowa’s answer, and his irritation was a physical presence at Trowa’s back as they walked down the sidewalk, Duo having to take three steps for every one of Trowa’s long strides.

“So, what will we be doing?” Duo asked, and Trowa bit back a sigh.

“Helping.”

“I figured _that_ out for myself, surprisingly,” Duo bit out, his sarcasm a sharp sting in Trowa’s ear. “But what does that _mean_?”

“It means whatever they need help with at the moment.”

“That’s not an answer!” Duo shouted, drawing the attention of the few people awake and on the road at this time of day.

“It’s all you’re getting. Deal with it.”

When they reached the shelter, the woman behind the counter greeted them with cheer. Trowa gave a nod in return, familiar with the routine by now. But Duo’s presence threw his normal pattern off, as the woman spoke more than he was used to hearing from her.

“Hello, Trowa! Who’s your friend?” she asked, peering behind him at Duo, who was slightly hidden behind Trowa’s tall, lanky frame.

“He wanted to help today,” Trowa answered, getting a groan out of Duo.

“Tro, can you just give a straight answer? It won’t kill you,” Duo teased, stepping out from behind Trowa and offering his hand to the amused woman. “I’m Duo Maxwell, Tro’s better half. I wanted to see what he gets up to all the time, so I tagged along today. Hope that’s not a problem, Miss,” he said, flashing her a smile. Trowa flushed, his eyes dropping to the ground at both Duo’s reprimand and the woman’s excited squeal of delight.

“So _you’re_ Duo! I’ve heard a lot about you from Trowa, so I’m glad to finally meet you in person. We can always use an extra set of hands around here. I’ll need to get you registered in the system, and give you a short orientation and training on our shelter’s procedures, but you’ll be able to join Trowa soon enough,” she said with a smile. Duo grinned back.

“Glad to hear that!”

“You’re welcome to join us if you want, Trowa,” she offered, but Trowa shook his head, taking a step away from the desk.

“I’ll be in the kennels,” Trowa murmured, and Duo’s smile faded a little, a tinge of rueful resignation in his eyes.

“I’ll be back soon, Tro. Go do what you need to.”

Trowa filled the bowls of the hungry dogs, cleaned up the feces from the night before, and was putting the bags by the door to be taken out when Duo came walking through the kennel. His presence elicited a chorus of barks, yips, and whines for attention as the man moved past the cages in his venture towards Trowa.

“Well, I’m officially a volunteer!” Duo said cheerfully. Trowa nodded, tying the last bag and setting it by the door. Duo looked around, his hands lacing together. “So, oh masterful and experienced one, what can I do to help?”

“Take the shit to the dumpster,” Trowa murmured, handing Duo a bag. He grimaced, but amusement danced in his eyes.

“I’m taking it that you mean literal shit.”

“Produced and harvested locally,” Trowa agreed, and Duo laughed, the darkness in his eyes lightening at Trowa’s humour.

“Got it.”

“I’m going to go clean the cat room,” Trowa said. “Third door down the hall after you take two rights.” Duo gave a bright smile, a vast difference from when they parted ways earlier.

“Okay. I’ll be back soon, Tro.”

Duo was true to his word. Trowa hadn’t even filled a quarter of the food bowls before Duo was wrapping his arms around Trowa’s waist, peering past him at the mewling feline in front of them.

“Back. Did you miss me?”

“Hmm,” Trowa hummed, setting the bowl back down in the cage and giving the cat a scratch behind her ears before withdrawing his hand, closing the door once more and latching it shut. She rubbed along the bars, desperate for more attention, and Trowa reached through, his fingers stroking her fur. “Sheila, stop that, I have to feed the others.”

“Her name’s Sheila?” Duo asked, and Trowa nodded.

“She reminds me of you,” Trowa added, and when he glanced down into Duo’s questioning face, Trowa quirked a light smile. “Needy, and always begging for attention and touches.”

Duo flushed, pressing his face into Trowa’s side to hide it with a whine.

“Oh my god, that was awful,” he moaned, and Trowa laughed.

“Are you doing better now?” Duo asked, and Trowa shrugged. Duo sighed, tightening his grip on his lover.

“I’m sorry, I know this threw off your pattern. But I wanted to see what kept bringing you back. Every other activity you’ve tried out you quit after a few weeks, but here… You’ve been coming for over a year now. It makes you happy, and I wanted to see that with my own eyes. If you don’t want me here, I won’t come back,” Duo said, resting his chin on Trowa’s arm. Trowa was still petting Sheila absently, and Duo squeezed him tighter.

“It’s not—” Trowa said, biting his lip and taking a breath to calm his nerves. “I… You can come. I can’t stop you, Duo. You can make your own choices.”

“Yes, but I can also make choices that don’t make you feel miserable. If this is your way to get time away from me, I don’t want to ruin it. You’re allowed to have spaces and hobbies that don’t involve us being together.”

“I don’t mind you here,” Trowa said, his voice barely above a whisper. “That’s not the problem.”

“Then what is, Trowa?” Duo insisted, though his voice lacked any anger. It was more… prodding. Encouraging. His fingers lazily traced patterns on Trowa’s shirt, and it helped him focus.

“I don’t know. I don’t have the answers you want. You ask me questions that don’t need answers, or you aren’t satisfied with the ones I give.” Trowa’s voice raised an octave, though his movements remained gentle as Sheila butted against the bars insistently. “I don’t know what you _want_.”

“I want you to be happy. I want to see you enjoying life. You’re not happy, Trowa. It’s not hard to see. I want to know what’s going on in your head, what’s stopping you from finding peace. Volunteering here, helping the animals, that _brings you happiness_. I wanted a peek at that, to see it. But…” Duo sighed, pulling away from Trowa and taking a few steps back, a sad, resigned smile on his face once more. “Being here ruined that for you. If I’m here, you can’t have that.”

“That’s not true,” Trowa said, turning from Sheila, who meowed indignantly. “It’s as you said. My pattern… I’m adjusting. It doesn’t mean I’m unhappy. I’m happy you’re here. I’m happy with you, no matter where we are.”

“Then why are you upset?”

“Because you’re upset.” Trowa curled his fingers helplessly. “Because I’m not good at this. At being a partner. You _are_ my better half. You bring me happiness, Duo, but I don’t bring it to you. I upset you more than anything.”

Duo moved forward again, wrapping Trowa in his arms and sighing lightly.

“Maybe,” he mused, “we’re both being idiots about this. Let’s try this again, okay? Tell me how I can help, show me what you do, show me your happiness.”

So they dropped the conversation, Trowa showing Duo how to feed the cats without the frisky felines escaping their cages, and then they cleaned out the litter boxes and changed out the blankets. Duo caught on quickly, cooing and making faces at the cats as he worked. His consistent chatter filled the room, soothing Trowa into a state where he felt calm again, felt content, and he moved methodically through the tasks. With two sets of hands helping, they finished quickly.

“Now what? You already fed and cleaned up after the dogs,” Duo asked, and Trowa let a smile touch his lips.

“Now comes the fun part,” Trowa answered, drying his hands and throwing the towel in the bin. Duo did the same, a questioning gaze following his actions.

So Trowa led him back to the kennel, where once again the dogs started a racket at their presence. Trowa showed Duo where the leashes and harnesses were kept, and how to check and make sure they weren’t damaged too bad to use.

“Some of the more damaged ones are okay to use with the older or lighter dogs,” Trowa said, showing the frayed leash to Duo. “They won’t have enough strength to rip all the way through it. But the larger dogs would split the leash and get loose. Pick the leash according to the dog you’re planning on using it with.”

So they each picked a leash, and then a dog. Trowa showed him the dog run, where the bin of toys was kept, and they spent the rest of the morning exercising the dogs in pairs. A few other volunteers came and went, also walking the dogs, but they only stayed for an hour at a time, and Trowa never acknowledged them. Duo chatted up a few of them, but mainly spent his time beside Trowa, which caused a warm, fluttery feeling in his stomach.

The afternoon was spent with the cats, grooming and playing with them in the large cat room. Trowa sat against the wall, legs outstretched as the cats roamed freely, one sprawled out on his lap as he ran a brush through the long hair. Duo sat near him, a cat also held in his arms as he brushed the squirming creature. Most of the cats were pawing at Trowa, trying to get attention, though a few were watching from afar, wary of joining in. Only a few cats remained in their cages, red or blue tags on the bars of those select cats. The red tags were for the more aggressive ones, or the ones who didn’t get along with other cats, while the blue ones were still recovering from surgery and couldn’t play roughly.

“I need to take a piss,” Duo announced, once he finished brushing Sheila, who had taken a shine to him. Trowa hummed, eyes flicking to Duo as he stood before focusing on Jasmine once more. Duo didn’t return for half an hour, and when he finally did, he had a bright smile on his face.

“Trowa, we’re going to be dads!”

Trowa blinked, his brows furrowing in confusion. Duo laughed, sliding down the wall to sit next to Trowa, and it wasn’t long before cats were clamoring over his legs and lap.

“Well,” Duo amended, grinning sheepishly, “foster dads. I went and talked to Courtney about the foster pet program that they mentioned in the orientation, and she said after we’re done today we could fill out the paperwork to be a part of it. I mean, you trained and took care of wild animals in the circus for a while, and so I could see you being able to handle even the tougher, more aggressive animals, which would be good because then they would have a better chance of being adopted, and maybe we could adopt a cat or dog—”

“Duo,” Trowa interrupted, his hands clenching and unclenching. “Why?”

Duo tilted his head, smiling softly.

“Because you look happy when you’re with them. I want you to be able to bring that happiness home with you. So why not? I am surprised you didn’t sign up for it sooner.”

Trowa looked down at Calypso, who stared back at him with bright blue eyes curiously. He gave the cat a shrug, petting her head absently as he formed his words carefully.

“I wasn’t sure you would want to. It’s your home too, and I didn’t want to force that choice on you.”

“It’s _our_ home,” Duo insisted. “All you needed to do was ask. I would have said yes, but that doesn’t matter now. Do you want to become a foster owner? Or even adopt? We could take Sheila, she adores the fuck out of you. She’s growing on me, too,” Duo added, the cat in question pawing at his fingers as they wiggled in her face. “All I need to know is what you want, Tro.”

Trowa leaned, resting his head on Duo’s shoulder and giving a hum. Duo reached up with his free hand, running his fingers through Trowa’s fringe.

“So we’re filling out paperwork?”

“Mhm,” Trowa hummed again. Courtney, the woman who worked the front desk, was all smiles and congratulations as they signed the paperwork to volunteer as foster owners, as well as the adoption papers for Sheila. Trowa carried Sheila in her carrier as they headed back home, and Duo had his arm looped through Trowa’s, his head resting against Trowa’s shoulder as they walked in tandem.

“I’m glad I came today,” Duo said quietly. Trowa took eight steps before he answered the unspoken question.

“Same. Come back with me.”

“Yes, sir!” Duo chirped playfully, and Trowa cracked a small smile. Sheila meowed in her carrier, and Duo laughed. Trowa’s heart fluttered again, and he pressed a kiss to Duo’s hair, carrying that feeling of contentment out through the front door and all the way to their bed that night.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr! [ALT](http://annoyinglittletwit.tumblr.com). I track _annoyinglittletwit_.


End file.
